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Topic: 07.25.2127 - A Boy of the Cloth (Read 6926 times)

I was just noticing that too... I'll work on that this weekend, see what I can do to fix it... Oddly though, it looks fine in the previews.

"Well," Harrison said, thinking back. "Sure, there were lots of wild dogs around, but they were never a problem. We farmed mostly produce, not livestock. We had a few cows, and a goat or three, but it was mostly corn and turnips that we grew."

Michael pressed on with the question, "How many dogs did the farm have? Did you have one?"

[color=#00ff00](OOC: You probably remember that Harrison had the Saint Bernard named Gunthar, but your family also owned a half-dozen retired Outer-Rim Defense dogs. These dogs were posted in verious places around the farm to ward off wild dogs, wolves, and warn of the occasional Kahr'Thul should one ever sneak past the border patrol.)[/color]

Harrison was becoming more confused, and thus frustrated by the line of questioning. What'd this have to do with where they were or what they were looking for?

"I had a dog of my own, and we had four or five guard dogs. They were old, but they kept the wolves away."

Harrison thought about the wolf he saw the night he was taken to the orphanage. He could feel his nerves beginning to fray under the weight of the events of the day. He forced it from his mind and thought about Emma.

Michael looked at Harrison a moment, then looked down at his hand. He was quiet for a moment, then finally asked, "so if there were all those dogs around, how come you didn't wake up when your Mom was fighting wolves that night?"

Harrison thought back to that night and remembered the face of the wolf he saw trailing after the wagon. Harrison never truly believed his mother fought wolves at all, but he wondered what Michael thought had happened.

"Well," he said, trying hard to sound like he thought his mother was in fact dead. "I never really believed there were any wolves, so whatever it was, it was something that didn't alarm the dogs. Perhaps even Jonah himself."

Harrison studied Michael intently to see how the thought impacted him, looking for signs that might suggest whether Michael believed Harrison's mother was dead. He hoped Michael did, so that at least something could remain private.

"What do you think, Michael? You obviously believe something already that you're trying very hard to lead me to. Just say it, you're not going to hurt me. Anything you believe I've probably already been through or imagined worse anyway." It was difficult to keep the irritation out of his tone, but he was sick of unspoken thoughts.

“You said exactly what I was thinking Harrison, that it couldn’t have been wolves that killed your mother in the night,” Michael said plainly. “So if that is the case, you and I must be cautious when we take whatever blackmail we find to your father. We need to insure our safety somehow before meeting with him, lest we meet some other silent fate.”

The sound of footsteps coming down the steps beyond the kitchen indicated their conversation was coming to an end.

Harrison felt like Michael was stating the obvious here, and was inclined to retort snydly. He didn't though, as he knew the older boy was just trying to help, and realistically, he had no way of knowing Harrison well enough to allow anything to go unsaid. Harrison supposed it would have been foolish to assume they were on the same page.

The two boys could see Lorainna as she walked the final few steps into the kitchen. She was a tall and beautiful woman with long, shiny black hair. She was dressed in nothing more than a tight-fitting red silk housecoat with high-heeled leather boots. (Picture Jennifer Connelly)

The woman walked the short distance between the kitchen and the filth they sat upon with 8 or 9 hip-swaying steps.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” she said in a deep and lusty voice.

“Ma’am,” Michael began as he stood up from the littered couch to shake her hand.

The woman declined his offer with a polite wave of her hand, the same one that held two gold pieces. Behind her in the kitchen, the heavy set woman was moving a bunch of pans around in a noisy attempt to start dinner.

Michael sat back down and Lorainna leaned back on a wall. The sides of her house coat hugged her leg as she brought her knee up, her foot anchored to the wall. “So, Dee-dee tells me you two boys are paying this gold for some kind of information?”

“That’s right Ms. Prescott,” Michael replied politely.

“Who are you working for?” she asked.

“Him,” responded Michael with a thumb pointed at Harrison.

Lorainna chuckled a bit, but it didn’t sound genuine. “The young man is working for the toddler? To what end?”

Michael opened up the file on Jonah Arbuckle at dropped it on the floor. The stack of papers slid out of alignment but for the most part stayed in the folder. “Lorainna, allow me to introduce you to Harrison. Harrison Arbuckle.” Michael said meaningfully.

Lorainna’s mouth dropped to the floor.

(OOG: Giving you a chance to say, think or do anything during this awkward moment for Lorainna.)

Harrison remained quiet, studying her face. Her every facial twitch was a tell, but being so new to the game he was playing, Harrison couldn't be sure what exactly they were telling him.

In response to the emotional warfare that the adults of the community seemed to enjoy waging, Harrison had made it a conscious decision to learn to refrain from showing emotion. This was his first real trial by fire. He kept his face as deadpan as he could, and waited for her to do or say something, wondering if she'd be the next name to add to his list.

Lorainna quickly recovered after her complete failure to disguise her surprise at seeing Jonah’s son in her living room. She composed herself.

“Well you certainly don’t have Jonah’s looks,” she said matter-of-factly. Harrison noted that she had been the first to mention his father’s name. This mean she either had incredible eye-sight (and had read his name on the floor), or had recognized his Harrison’s surname. He was pretty sure it was the latter, which meant, she did indeed know Jonah.

Lorainna yelled down the corridor, “Mia!” startling both the boys. She then turned back to them, “what’s the folder all about? And, who are you again?” she asked Michael.

“The folder is a copy of Jonah’s extensive CAP-sheet (OOC: again, CAP is nickname for CAPital city guard). It in turn led us to you. We would like some information,” Michael returned coolly.

“Mia!” Lorainna yelled again.

Harrison figured it must be the woman’s daughter who had poked her head out the door. He also sympathized with the girl’s lack of response in heeding the summons. This woman may be pretty, but she gave him the creeps.

Lorainna didn’t get an answer, so she pounded her high-heeled boot on the floor where she stood; knocking on the floor three times.

“Two gold coin for what kind of information?” Lorainna asked, she didn’t try to hide her suspicion of the two visitors.

“Where is Jonah Arbuckle for starters?” Michael asked.

“He was transferred to SouthHaven a week ago. Running a shrine of his very own I am told,” she replied.

“So he received a demotion then?”

“Apparently,” she said curtly.

Harrison heard a muted thump and felt the floor vibrate at the exact moment of the noise.

“Why?” Michael parried.

“You read the file, you tell me?”

“Alright, I will cut to the chase. Jonah handled elicit affairs for the Church here in ShantyTown, you were his liason with the sackers. But he also had many other contacts for other activities; gambling, fighting, drugs, you name it. But he got too close to someone or something and was chased out but for some reason I can’t put my finger on. Why wasn't he simply... quieted.” Michael’s speech seemed a bit reckless to Harrison, as if the teenage boy was revealing far too much.

Harrison then felt the same thump in the floor.

“Who are you again? How do you come by all this information?” Lorainna asked with a bit of anger.

“Who I am is of no concern. Who knows I am here and what will happen should anything occur to me or my little friend here is, however, your concern.” Michael replied. “ You are very involved with Jonah according to that CAP copy,” he added.

Out of Harrison’s view, he heard the door down the hall open. A tall but think and mousy girl with long brown hair stepped into the opening. She was covered in blotches of soot on her clothes, face, and hands. She looked sweaty, as if she had been working in a blacksmith shop for the past 8 hours.

“Yes Mommy?” she asked quietly.

“Go get my sticks (SafeHaven version of cigarettes) upstairs in my room,” Lorainna told her. There was little kindness in the tone of the request.

“Yes Mommy.”

The girl passed the heavy set woman who was mumbling over a hot stove and went upstairs.

(OOC: Another break in the narrative for any input you would like to give. If I have said anything above for Harrison that you don't like, please edit as you wish.)

Harrison had been ready to leave after simply finding out where Jonah was, and was surprised at the continued questioning. He had been so focused on just finding out where the scoundrel had been, he hadn't even thought of what to do if he found him. For the first time he started to feel like he actually could trust Michael.

...not that he'd been given much of a choice, but at least he was at peace with it now.

Harrison continued his deadpan expression, glaring icily at her, intent on remembering every twitch of her face.

Lorainna said nothing as her daughter’s footsteps were lost beyond the sounds of frying oil in the kitchen. Lorainna gave Michael a challenging stare, his counter-threat given only moments ago was apparently still on her mind.

“Your sources speak the truth kid,” she finally said to Michael. “Jonah was becoming too influential in LowTown. And you might guess as to who would take issue with that.”

“Sephlin Cordello,” answered Michael.

“Exactly right,” she returned. “And for the record, Jonah wasn’t blind to it either. When the demotion papers came from the white robes(OOC: a.k.a. the Clergy) last week he immediately knew where he had overstepped his bounds. And it wasn’t in the High Temple, it was in LowTown.”

Michael thought about this for a moment. “So you still haven’t told me why Jonah wasn’t simply eliminated,” Michael said. “Why didn’t Fresenius simply barter with Sephlin in some kind of prisoner exchange and replace Jonah with another clergy lackey? Or did Fresenius actually trust his former Crime Boss to retire quietly in SouthHaven?”

“That is where your fee goes beyond these two gold pieces boy. You want me to risk my neck, then you better come up with far more than this,” the woman said with almost a hiss of disdain as she held up the two gold.

Just then the tall but very young girl reappeared with her mother’s sticks. Harrison guessed that Mia was about 7 or 8 years old, judging by curves of her very young looking face, but cold if the girl wasn’t an at least an inch taller than him.

Mia handed the sticks over to her mother who immediately pulled one and walked back to the kitchen to light it up by the stove. While Lorainna departed to light her smoke, Mia simply stood in the room and stared at the two boys. She looked at each of them in turn and then waved as she said “Hi” to Harrison.

The girl smiled in reply, revealing two missing front teeth. Michael looked over at his young charge and laughed warmly. It was a welcome break in the tension, but it ended all too quickly with Lorainna’s return. She looked down upon her daughter with an incredulous glare. When Mia looked up her smile instantly evaporated from her face. “Sorry,” she squeaked and left the room, going back down the corridor. Harrison heard a door close and a moment later felt the same two thumps on the floor as the conversation picked up between Lorainna and Michael.

“Ms. Prescott, Harrison and I aren’t here to disrupt your life or cause you any harm. We only seek to find this boys’ father so we can get him to sign some papers.”

“Then go to SouthHaven and leave me be,” interrupted Lorainna.

“Indeed, but it may not be that easy. The man has already given up in parenting the lad. Who knows if he will sign them willingly, so we need to find a little encouragement, something to entice his cooperation,” Michael said.

“You are cunning young man, Sephlin himself would find you amusing,” Lorainna commented.

“I may be too tall, lanky and quite frankly… male, for his taste,” Michael replied.

Harrison noted Lorainna’s muted but still detectable startle of surprise, though he didn’t understand the reason behind it. (OOG: and Griznuq most likely won’t either, Johan may get a chuckle though). She recovered, again, and stared at Michael while deciding something. Finally she said, “100 gold”.

Michael snickered at her then countered, “for 100 gold I can go through three more of your kind in that folder and find thrice the encouragement. 10 gold.”

“For ten you can shove the folder up your ass boy,” Lorainna said with a sneer. Harrison noted that she was a bit more unhinged now. He thought that perhaps having two boys in her living room who knew about her business and her CAP record was unnerving her. “Fifty. Final offer while I am still in a good mood,” she finished then took a strong pull off of her stick. The smell reminded Harrison of the woods, the smoke had a musky oak scent.

“Fine, but I am taking it back if your information is cold,” Michael said while fishing in his pocket. He took a platinum half plate from his pocket and flipped it to her. She caught it, examined it and then placed it in the pocket of her robe. She then reached into her bodice and pulled out a hidden gold necklace. Upon which was a very small and delicate gold key. She tossed the key, necklace and all, back to Michael.

She stood up straight, flicked ash from her stick onto the floor and took a breath before speaking. “You are correct. Under normal conditions Fresenius would have given Jonah over to Sephlin for some nice exchange to serve the white robes, but that didn’t happen because there is no longer two forces in LowTown.”

Harrison noticed that it was now Michaels turn to be surprised.

“A man named Angelus also dwells in the underground, and that key is some kind of signet to be used to gain access to him. Jonah asked me to give it to his clergy successor,” she said while pointing at it.

“Won’t the successor be looking for it then? Shouldn’t his appointment be any day now?” Michael asked.

“No, I don’t believe he will. Jonah asked me to keep Angelus and his key a secret, from everyone…including the clergy,” Lorainna said, emphasizing the name of the unknown man in LowTown.

“Well if the Clergy doesn’t know about Angelus, how is it that Angelus protected Jonah from being killed?” Michael asked.

“Not sure, nor was Jonah. He thought that Angelus perhaps controlled cells of influence that he had not been made aware of. That perhaps Angelus was working with other secret operatives.”

Michael looked at the delicate gold key for a moment. “What is Angelus purpose? Did Jonah speak to the man’s agenda?”

“He didn’t” Lorainna said with a frown. “Jonah didn’t even tell me about Angelus until last week after he had been demoted, and the only reason he did then was because he needed someone he could trust to pass on the key,” she added.

“Well that doesn’t make sense either. If Angelus is hiding from the clergy, why pass on the signet to the next clergy member and reveal himself?”

Lorainna looked over to Harrison for a moment, half-snickered, and then returned her gaze to Michael to answer. “While I lay in bed with Jonah I asked him that very same question. Jonah said that Angelus already knew who the clergy member was; that Angelus prophesized that the new white robe would aid his cause.”

I has confuse. Why would Johan ask her to pass the key on to his clergy successor, AND ask her to keep it secret from everyone including the clergy? You may need to spell what you're alluding to out to me here.